Its like Formula One Walsh explains why sevens cant survive savage cuts
After the Tokyo Olympics âunited the world like only sport canâ, Australian menâs sevens coach Tim Walsh has outlined why the program should not be the victim of savage cuts in the coming months.
Rugby Australiaâs high-performance unit, along with board members Phil Waugh and Daniel Herbert, are undertaking a review of the Australian sevens program in the wake of a disappointing Olympic campaign, where the 2016 Olympic champion womenâs team were knocked out in the quarter-finals and the menâs team failed to make the finals.
The review panel will soon make a recommendation as to what shape the program should take ahead of next yearâs Commonwealth Games and the Paris Olympics in 2024, with one of the options being to scale the programs back from full-time programs.
Samu Kerevi was part of Australiaâs average showing in Tokyo.Credit:Getty
Before COVID-19 devastated Rugby Australiaâs finances, the sevens program was considered an essential part of rugbyâs future in Australia.
While that is still the case for the womenâs game - which is widely considered the flagship program of Australian womenâs rugby - the same canât be said for the menâs program after a seventh placed finish in Tokyo, and a boozy plane ride home that saw the entire team reprimanded.
Walsh, who declined to comment on the plane behavioural issue, pointed to the cut-through new Olympics sports skateboarding, surfing and BMX were afforded through Australian success stories and the bronze medal triumph of the Boomers as proof of the impact sevens could have if given another cycle to grow.
âThe Olympics answers that question. It was the most anticipated Olympics in history, it united the world like only sport can,â Walsh said when asked about the future viability of the program.
âItâs the biggest sporting event in the world. You only have to look at the magnitude of which other sports have been able to market themselves out of this. Aussies love their sport and they love the Olympics.
âItâs a real opportunity for sports to be on the world stage and to deliver what theyâre all about. Both as Aussies but also, as rugby. There is a huge importance and opportunity for rugby sevens.â
But success wonât be possible if the program is cut into a part-time operation, filled by promising prospects fresh out of school, club rugby players and the occasional Super Rugby off-cut.
âRugby World Cups or Olympic Games or anything to do with benchmark events, there is a certain formula that goes into that. There is experience, self awareness, combinations, leadership, from a coaching point of view and a player point of view,â Walsh said.
âYou can look at decades of data and teams and thatâs the formula. If thatâs the strategic goal of the organisation, thatâs where you have to begin. Put those pieces together.
âItâs too specialised. Obviously COVID put a lot of doubt and stress on everybody, not just sport. When you look at an international sport like sevens, itâs not like youâre a club and you compete and then go play for Australia.
âItâs like Formula One. You travel around the world eight months of the year.â
While Walsh waits to hear what the future of the program entails, he has already started planning for Birmingham.
But at the top of his to-do list is Paris. Itâs in France that Walsh wants to emulate the Boomers and become the first Australian to lead the menâs sevens team to an Olympic medal.
âMy ambition is to go to Paris and be the first coach to win an Olympic medal for Australian menâs rugby sevens. Iâm planning towards that. If things change, they change. And we just tack the other way,â he said.
âWeâre used to living with uncertainty but I already have plans in place for Paris and Birmingham.
âTheyâre always changing but as far as my plans go and the program, thatâs what weâre aiming for right now.â
Sam is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
0 Response to "Its like Formula One Walsh explains why sevens cant survive savage cuts"
Post a Comment